QUICK OVERVIEW OF JAMAICA PLAIN

·        One of 16 Boston neighborhoods

·        Population (census 2000): 36,302 (census tracts 812, 1101, 1201-1207)

o       49% White, 29% Latino, 15% African-American, 4% Asian, 3% other or multiracial

o       22% foreign born; 8% entered US within past 10 years

o       37% have household income under $35,000

o       17% households under poverty line

·        Home to the largest Latino business district in New England; primarily Dominican, Cuban, Puerto Rican and Central American

·        The most green space per capita of any Boston neighborhood; located along part of the “Emerald Necklace” system of waterways and parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted

·        30 years ago, banks considered Jamaica Plain too risky to approve a mortgage.  Today, JP is the third most expensive neighborhood in Boston – which has the eighth highest housing prices of US metropolitan areas.  In 2004, the median price for a single family home in Jamaica Plain was $500,000.  To afford the average market-rate two-bedroom apartment, a household must earn over $60,000/year. 

For historical information, learn more at JP Historical Society.